January 31, 2023

PRIMED recognized as one of Alberta’s Top Employers for fifth consecutive year

EDMONTON (Alberta), January 31, 2023 – PRIMED Medical Products is honoured of our recent selection on Alberta’s Top Employer list for 2023. Alberta’s Top Employers is an annual competition that recognizes Alberta’s leaders of industry that offer extraordinary places to work.

Award recipients are selected based on criteria that evaluates workplace and work atmosphere, compensation, leadership development, and community involvement. Despite ongoing challenges exiting the pandemic, PRIMED continues to achieve excellence in these categories and is grateful to be recognized as an Alberta Top Employer for a fifth consecutive year.

PRIMED is a leading manufacturer and supplier of personal protective equipment (PPE). They offer their employees a sense of purpose and are committed to investing in ongoing employee development. Along with a full suite of customary benefits, PRIMED offers subsidies for job-related education, subsidies for professional accreditation, and bonuses for course completion. PRIMED employees receive paid time off to volunteer and give back to the community. PRIMED is also active in supporting the development of the next generation. Through academic scholarships for children of employees, as well as co-op placements, paid internships, and summer employment for new graduates, PRIMED is helping pave the path for Alberta’s future leaders.

Coming from the University of British Columbia with a finance degree, Jeremy Johnson-Silvers could have followed some of his fellow graduates into traditional careers with accounting firms or investment banks. Instead, he returned to his Edmonton hometown and joined PRIMED Medical Products.

“PRIMED offered me an opportunity to dive right in to project work and actually have an impact on the business,” says Johnson-Silvers, manager of corporate development. “I could see that what I was working on was making a difference to the bottom line.”

Founded in 1995, PRIMED initially imported and distributed Chinese-manufactured personal protective equipment (PPE) such as face masks, medical gowns and examination gloves, among other products. However, in the early 2000s the company began designing and manufacturing its own PPE. PRIMED now has five manufacturing facilities – three in China, one in Laos and another in Cambridge, Ont. – and is the largest supplier of these products to the Canadian health-care market.

“PRIMED has grown quickly, and achieved a dominant position in the Canadian market, largely on the strength of talent that the company has recruited and trained”,

President and CEO David Welsh says PRIMED has grown quickly, and achieved a dominant position in the Canadian market, largely on the strength of talent that the company has recruited and trained.

“The number of individuals who work here and have grown up within the company is pretty substantial,” says Welsh. “Some of our most senior people have been with the company 20 years-plus and it was their first job with a bachelor of commerce or a science degree.”

That is no coincidence. PRIMED has had an internship program for over 15 years and routinely hires up to a dozen interns a year.

“It’s been a huge benefit to us,” says Welsh. “The young people bring energy, and it’s part of our responsibility to the community,and a large part of our culture, to give these opportunities to young people from the Edmonton area.”

“PRIMED offered me an opportunity to dive right into project work and actually have an impact on the business. I could see my work was making a difference to the bottom line.”

Johnson-Silvers spent two summers as an intern, first as a sales associate and then as an assistant to Welsh, only to join PRIMED full-time upon completion of school. In the latter role, he accompanied his boss on a site selection tour for a new manufacturing plant that took them to the Dominican Republic, Mexico and Southeast Asia.

After he graduated, Johnson-Silvers was handed the responsibility of managing the construction of the new Ontario manufacturing facility and handled similar duties while the Laos plant was being built.

“The company pushes the junior staff to take these stretch assignments and really learn, but there’s always a safety net,” says Johnson-Silvers. “We always have someone who knows the business and is able to support you.”

PRIMED may be a smaller company, but as a fast-growing enterprise, it always has new positions and opportunities opening up.

“The organizational charts that we build for the future are already set,” says Welsh. “We know what we’re expecting of for the next three years, which creates clear career pathways.”

To date, PRIMED’s success has rested largely on recruiting young talent and allowing them to grow with the company, and that approach will likely continue.

“Our business is specific enough that the value of developing people internally cannot be denied,” says Welsh. “It’s very hard to go outside and find the right talent and experience because we’re a unique business.”

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For more information:

To learn more about what makes PRIMED Medical Products one of the best workplaces, go to PRIMED.com/careers.

About PRIMED Medical Products

‍Establishedin 1995, PRIMED Medical Products is a dynamic, global manufacturer specializing in high quality medical products. With wholly owned and operated manufacturing facilities, robust research and development, and a global sales network, PRIMED Medical Products is one of the fastest growing international manufacturers of high quality medical products, offering branded, co-branded, and private label products and services to its customers and international partners.

About Alberta’s Top Employers

First published in 2006, Alberta’s Top Employers is an annual competition organized by the editors of Canada’s Top100 Employers. This special designation recognizes the Alberta employers that lead their industries in offering exceptional places to work. Employers are evaluated on eight criteria: (1) Physical Workplace; (2) Work Atmosphere &Social; (3) Health, Financial & Family Benefits; (4) Vacation & Time Off; (5) Employee Communications; (6) Performance Management; (7) Training& Skills Development; and (8) Community Involvement. Employers are compared to other organizations in their field to determine which offers the mostprogressive and forward-thinking programs. Learn more at CanadasTop100.com/alberta

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HR Contact:
Mark Kwan, Director, Human Resources
mark.kwan@PRIMED.com

Media Contact:
Jennifer Cliff, Communications Manager
jennifer.cliff@PRIMED.com

PRIMED Medical Products Inc.
#200, 2003-91 Street SW
Edmonton, Alberta T6X 0W8
Phone: 780 497 7600
Web: www.primed.com

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